When Acting Becomes Reality
by Empyreal Melody
Summary: After gaining a role in her latest movie offer, Sana is introduced to another actor: Akito Hayama. The problem? He's her co-star with the biggest attitude she has ever known.
1. Looking At Those Pictures

When Acting Becomes Reality 

By Empyreal Melody

Author's Note: Hello! Empyreal Melody here, but call me San! In this fic, Sana is 14 and just starting high school. She hasn't met Tsuyoshi or Akito yet, but she will eventually. Aya and Fuka are with her as well, Fuka having already dated Takaishi. Not much to say for the first chapter, except for you to read on with the story!   

Disclaimer: Most unfortunately I do not own Kodocha, but I'd like to! After all, who wouldn't? 

(^-^) (^-^) (^-^)

Chapter 1 – Looking At Those Pictures

A girl let out a long yawn and stretched her arms on her bed as she started to wake up. Her brown hair was a mess and her eyes could barely remain open. Slowly looking over at her clock she found out that school started in fifteen minutes. Figuring she had enough time to get ready she crawled back into her blanket. 

"What?!!!!!" Immediately her chestnut brown eyes were opened wide and she jumped out of bed. She threw open the doors of her closet and pulled out her uniform. After that she slipped on her shoes and took two elastic bands.

"Mom! Rei! Why didn't anybody wake me up?!" 

"What? You're not a baby anymore. You should learn how to get up on your own," her mother said, laughing as a fan covered her mouth. On top of her head was her squirrel, Mako, who was currently playing with the net of the mini-basketball court. She handed Sana a slice of bread already coated with butter when she spotted her downstairs. "Now hurry up and eat. You don't want to be late for your first day of high school."

Sana ran over to the nearest mirror to tie up her hair, but failed to do it nicely. Knowing she didn't have enough time either, she grabbed the scissors closet to her. "What do I do first? My hairstyle or my bangs?" She looked over to her mom in question.

"Good question. Let's see now…" She took Mako off her head and put it on Sana's. "There, now your hairstyle is done. Quite fascinating don't you think?"

Sana blinked in confusion as she watched Mako through the mirror try to score a basket with its tail. Hearing Rei call her name made her take Mako off her head and placed it back on her mother's. 

"Sana!" Rei called out again. He looked at his watch, straining his eyes to look at the little clock handles through his sunglasses while holding the door open.

"Sorry Mom gotta go!" She gave her mother a quick kiss before getting her backpack. "Come on Rei!" she said, pulling him to the limo. "Step on it!"   

~*~*~*~*~*~

While Rei was driving her to school, Sana tied her hair up in pigtails with her bread hanging from her mouth. When she glanced out the window she saw an old lady walking by. She blinked, noticing how fast that woman was to be able to keep up with a car. Then she stared closely. That woman seemed to be walking very slowly…

"Rei! What are you doing? I'm going to be late for the opening ceremony if I don't get there fast! What's taking so long?" she whined, hating to be late for something she thought to be of importance.

"I'm driving for your safety. The slower we go, the less chances we get for getting into danger," he answered in a somewhat fatherly tone.

"Ha! I laugh in the face of danger!" She popped up from the open space in the limo and stood on her seat, laughing the way her mother would with her hands on her hips. 

"Sana! Get down!" Rei panicked and yanked Sana back down to her seat. She plopped down and sat straight, a cocky smile on her face. "I laugh in the face of danger," she said, starting to give Rei the creeps. "Move over! I'm driving!" She crawled into Rei's lap and stomped on the pedal. 

"Sana! What do you think you're doing?!" 

The car zoomed and flew through the air as they reached the hills of the streets. Sana laughed as she drove while Rei was clinging onto his seat with tears about to come from his eyes.

"Yeah! Now this is what I call driving!" she exclaimed, looking like a mad driver.

"Stop! Sana! How are you even reaching the pedal?"

"That doesn't matter. With my unique skill, we'll get there in no time!"

"Whatever happened to safety?"

"Oh that's old news. I laugh in the face of danger."

They hit a bump that made them bounce in their seats. "Whee!" Sana then let go of the wheel, throwing her hands up and letting it drive on its own. Immediately Rei tried to take over. "Get back in your seat, Sana."

"Aww, but this is fun!" 

"Stop now or I'll call your mother," he warned, but his warning proved to be of no use.

"Haha! My mother laughs in the face of danger!" 

"Stop saying that!" Rei exclaimed while Sana laughed the rest of the way there.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The car swerved into the parking lot with a loud screech. Rei was panting, his face pale from exhaustion and fright. That had to have been the scariest experience that has ever happened to him in his entire life. Sure it may have been a bit like a roller coaster, but that was nowhere near fun. Sometimes, that girl was too energetic for her own good. He felt as though he could have died from that car ride. 

"Okay. I'm off to the ceremony now. Bye Rei!" Sana got out of the car joyfully and skipped away as if that ride was nothing at all. 

"Sana!" A blonde girl her age came running up to her. She had a very calm aura to her, and asked how she was. "It's good to see you here on time, but I guess that's because today is important." She laughed at her own joke as Sana put her hand behind her head. 

"As true as that may be, I will not admit it!" she exclaimed, holding her head up high.

"Um, Sana, you just did." 

"Oh I did?" Her face went completely dumb while Aya was giggling softly at her. "Oh well! Let bygones be bee-gones! Let's go!" She then pulled Aya to the school doors, leaving Rei still paralyzed.

"I am never going to let Sana drive as long as I live," he muttered to himself.

"What was that?" A dull voice came from the window as Rei looked straight into the face of Sana. He jumped; more scary sparks emitting from his already frightened self. That girl just seemed to pop in and out of nowhere. 

"Sana! I thought you already left." He held a hand over his heart, barely able to handle anymore shock from that girl.

"I did. I came back," she said. 

Rei gave off a teardrop as he watched her suck on her thumb. No matter what age she is, she still acts like a child. "Sana, that's unhealthy. I read in a book that you can get germs from doing that. It also mentioned that-"

"Okay! Bye Rei!" She ran back to where Aya was and charged to the school doors once again. Rei leaned back into the leather seat and covered his face with his hands. 'Someone needs to help her,' he thought to himself. Regaining his composure he drove slowly, but safely back home.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hello students! For some, welcome back to another year at Jinbo! For others, welcome! Most of you should know that this school runs from pre-school to 12th grade. So whether you are new or not, you may see a lot of familiar faces. My younger brother was the elementary principal, so most of you should be able to recognize me from him. Our school has ideals, but most of you should know that they don't really matter. No one pays attention to them anyway! Hahaha! Have fun!"

The students laughed as their principal went off stage with the assistant principal running after him. "Wait! Principal! That was too short! Come back!" Sana knew that she was going to like her school. Her best friends Aya and Fuka were going to be in her class as well. Since the speech was too short, they were sent to their homeroom classes where her teacher introduced himself. Being their first day, they didn't have any classes. In fact, it was just an orientation. So they received their syllabuses for all their classes and went around introducing themselves. 

"Hi! I'm Kurata Sana. It's nice to meet you all." She smiled with her brown eyes shining with laughter. She knew that there really was no point in introducing herself. She was a star after all. Though to make things even and give her self an equal participation in their group she decided that it wasn't so bad being normal. 

"Thank you, Miss Kurata. You may take your seat." Other people who haven't introduced themselves yet came up to the front of the classroom while Sana chatted with Fuka. Aya was on the other side of the classroom talking to some other students from their elementary classes. It was nice that some of them could get together again, like a little reunion. 

"Hey girl! What's up?" Fuka greeted, holding her hand up in the air for a high five. Her black hair was straight as usual but there was something about her bangs that just weren't right. Sana hit her hand back and noticed what was wrong with her hair. It was cut too short!

"Didn't have enough time to cut your bangs right, huh Fuka?" 

"Well I don't see how yours is any different. I say that you were late this morning and didn't have enough time to cut your bangs at all." As usual, Fuka used her smarts to counter Sana's comment. Sometimes Fuka was just too smart for her own good. Got annoying sometimes, really, but she was a great friend so Sana didn't bother making a fuss over it. 

"Yeah well I have no idea why I didn't get up. Ever since I got that new alarm clock, I just slept through the music. After all it is classical." Fuka got a teardrop when Sana said that. "Of course she didn't wake up," Fuka thought. "That's classical! No one can wake up to classical. Unless it was Beethoven or something but even that is boring!" All of a sudden a light bulb turned on and Fuka started rummaging through her bag.

"Oh! Before I forget…" She pulled out an 'M' magazine from her bag, flipped through a couple of pages and showed it to Sana. "Look! There's a new hot actor! Have you met him?" 

Sana looked at the page to see the picture of a guy with dirty blonde hair. In her opinion he didn't seem that hot. He practically had no emotion on his face and looked so dull. Though she did have to admit, his eyes did give off a certain interest.

"Nuh-uh. Never seen him before. Who is he?" 

Fuka rolled her eyes at her friend. "Don't you ever read? His name is right on the bottom. Akito Hayama. She took the magazine and read the short description provided on the page.

'Check out our hottest star because this cheetah is on the loose! Akito Hayama 

is  now  Japan's  best  actor  when  it comes  to  action.  He recently played in 

Director Kaiyuki's 'I Will Never Die' and Director Ionio's 'My Way of Karate.'

Who 's interested out there? You should because he's right here in your city!'

"Can you believe this? Another actor!" she practically squealed while Sana sweat-dropped. Ever since Fuka and Takaishi broke up, she started looking at all the famous hotties. Sometimes she made Sana wonder just exactly how much alike they were.

"How are things going between you and Naozumi?" Fuka asked, pulling out another magazine. "You know, this guy." She pointed at the page where pictures of Naozumi were all over the place. "No wait, this one is much better." She pulled out yet another magazine from her bag and unfolded the poster that was inserted. "Well? What do you think?" 

Sana's mind raced with question marks and flying ducks as she looked between pictures. It seemed as though wherever she went Naozumi would always be there. She would occasionally see him at work and when she didn't, she would see him on television. When she didn't see him on TV she would constantly hear about him from other reporters and definitely the girls at her school. He was everywhere! The idea annoyed her, but she figured that probably some people felt the same way about her too. "It's not like we're going out or anything. It's just those tabloids, always making things up. You know how they are." 

Fuka nodded knowing that most of the things said in the media were mostly always not true. "But what about the picture? I only collect the pages and magazines that I like so you better say it looks good." She gave Sana an evil glare that made Sana laugh nervously. Hearing that she said that the pictures looked okay Fuka brightened and continued her chattering.

During her talk Sana felt like sleeping. Of course Fuka was her best friend, but she felt so tired and she knew that she was going to have to go back to work the following day. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to fall asleep in school. It wasn't like she was going to miss anything. If something important came along someone would wake her up anyway. She yawned, stretching her arms out before slumping against her seat and then leaning her head against her desk. 

"-and I knew that he was going to make it in that movie. He seemed like the perfect guy for the role… Are you listening to me? Hey! Wake up!" Getting quite annoyed by her already snoring friend she took out her trusty fan from wherever she keeps it and hit her. 

"Ow! That hurt! Who did that?" She turned her head sideways in that quick anime style characters always do before slowly staring at Fuka. "Fuka…" She used her dull, scary voice again on her.

"Oh stop that Sana. I was talking to you about Hayama! You should listen. You might meet him someday." She became starry eyed, imagining Sana introducing him to her. That would be wonderful! 

Sana just waved her hand and shook her head. "I don't think so Fuka. I'm not interested." 

"What do you mean by that?" she asked her in shock. After all, who wouldn't be interested in a guy like Hayama? He was a major celebrity with looks and talent. Sometimes that was hard to find. Sana could be a bit dense, but not to like Hayama? She was appalled!

Sana rested her elbows against her desk in thought. She wondered herself why she wasn't as interested in guys as her other girl friends. While they were looking at those tabloids she would sit there with no care in the world. Maybe it was because of that whole sixth grade incident. The boys in her class were always causing havoc and gave the teacher a hard time. Naozumi, though more mature than the others, was too annoying. It could all just be considered as a bad experience, but still, she wasn't interested. She chose to ignore Fuka's question in the end and fell back asleep…

"Sana? You okay?" Fuka waved her hand in front of Sana's face to get her 'out of space.' When she didn't reply she fell off her chair in sudden realization. "Sana! Don't tell me you fell asleep with your eyes open! You didn't answer my question! Sana!" 

~*~*~*~*~*~

Author's Note: Well there's the first chapter. Did you like it? If it was too short, don't worry. I'll make it longer in upcoming chapters. Though, of course, that would be if you review. Other authors have used the great idea of having a certain number of reviews before updating. I'll be taking that in as well so review to your heart's content! I'll be updating as soon as I can. Arigatou! ^^     


	2. Movie Offer

**When Acting Becomes Reality**

By Empyreal Melody

Story Clarifications: Hello all! I'm really sorry about the long delay. I won't give you any excuses since I'm sure you just want to read on. Though there are some things I think I have to say first. In some of my reviews people were asking about the time order this story is in. To clear it up, Sana is in her first year of high school. Sana still met Fuka in junior high and she never had any problems in sixth grade. She never met Akito or Tsuyoshi before. If there is still confusion, please feel free to review or just e-mail me at KawaiiSan03@aol.com. Also, before you begin, this first italicized passage is just part of the play Sana is performing in. There's going to be several more like this in future chapters to show how things will be going in the movie. Any other italicized words and phrases are for thoughts and emphasis. Here's chapter 2! *clap clap*  

***

Chapter 2: Movie Offer  

-=- _In the distance she heard a cry reach her ears from the throats of two terrified people. A woman and her child were struck down as soon as she heard them, both falling to the ground as the men continued to raid across the land.  __Tears streamed down her face as she realized the tragedy that beheld her village. She tried to run away from all of them, the fallen bodies of the people she once lived with and cherished. She didn't know what else to do. Everything she had known was lost to her. She could remember the voice of her father telling her that she had to be strong. Flashbacks ran in and out of her mind as she tried to escape reality. She didn't want to let go of the past. She couldn't! She needed her father. The only parent she ever had.  _

_She spotted a figure on the ground she knew that could belong to no other. Her breathing stopped short, her eyes growing larger. "This can't be…" She let her knees fall to the ground, her whole body trembling as her hands could barely keep still from shaking. She let out a loud cry of pain to express her sadness, though no one could hear her. She was alone, her childhood happiness, gone. Her movements were sharp, from looking to one part of the ground to another, her eyes shut in attempt to keep the tears from flowing. She felt water pour down her cheeks as she wept. She couldn't bring herself to stop._

_The screaming had ceased and she knew she was an only survivor of the raid. Who could she turn to for comfort? Everyone was dead now… Again she remembered her father's voice. "Don't give up. Be strong. Be strong…" The words repeated in her mind over and over again until she understood what she was supposed to do. Over her father's dead body, she swore she would seek revenge on the people who took part in the cause of death on those she loved dearly. She stood up after a moment's silence of crying, her hands clenched in fists. _

_     "I promise I won't let you guys down. All of you. I swear I'll get those pirates back no matter what…" Another tear escaped her eye as she walked away from her position, no wind blowing against her at all. Fate was against her, or maybe that was the path she had to accept in order to achieve things for the better good. Either way, pure silent emotions enveloped her, a vengeful girl with a blackened heart… -=-   _

_------------_

"Another excellent performance from our one and only, Sana Kurata. Just as we would expect from you," the MC said. "And now, Naozumi will present a bouquet of flowers." As everyone clapped Sana was forced to sweatdrop. _After all these years he still insists on giving me these flowers. I wonder when he'll drop it… _

It had become their usual routine whenever Sana had a Komawari play. Three years ago, around the time when they first met, Naozumi had always presented Sana a bouquet. Of course this would lead to some suspicion from the media, but everyone within both Sana and Naozumi's range knew that nothing would ever happen between the two of them. 

His eyes gave off a certain shine as the audience gave Sana their big applause. They watched as though a magic trick were being performed as the girl with the tear-stained eyes started to laugh. She waved, a huge smile on her face full of happiness. 

As she walked offstage, she didn't notice the extra prop laying just a few feet in her path. Still waving, she absentmindedly slipped over the plastic sword and fell straight down, hands reaching for no particular place in the air. People gasped, hands over their mouths, while some laughed, and others with awkward looks on their faces.

Naozumi knelt down next to her and asked if she was all right. His expression was caught between concern and the wanting to laugh at her. Sana didn't notice either one of them and instead laughed herself. Putting an arm behind her head she said, "I guess everyone wasn't lying when they called me a klutz, huh?" The audience laughed in return. No matter what she did, Sana was always prepared to be a comedian. Naozumi shook his head with a nervous smile and offered her a hand up. 

     "Sorry about that everyone!" Sana shouted out. "Now that I'm up and talking I should keep on with it." With her acute fickleness acting skill, she placed a calm yet still joyful look on her face. "Thanks for coming to this performance." Everyone looked at her, waiting for her to say more. "I think that's it." The audience fell down anime style as her expression changed from how it was before to a dumb look- that anime style as well. 

     "Sana…" Naozumi held onto his nervous smile as he shook his head and inwardly laughed to himself.  

     "Bye!" Again the audience was up and clapping as she and Naozumi walked offstage -- really this time.

~*~*~*~*~*~

     "Sana, you really are a klutz," Rei joked as he greeted her. "You'd think that after eight years of acting you would learn not to trip over the props."

     "Hey! It's not my fault the stage crew decided to leave things out after the play. Besides, at least it wasn't during the performance." Her left hand made an up and down motion as she told him not to worry about it.

Naozumi laughed as Sana continued her buoyant manner. "That was a great job you did back there. But now that I think of it, the plot seemed really similar to one you did before. I'm guessing the Komawari play you did about three years back."

Sana gave it some thought, placing the tip of her index finger to a spot under her chin. "Hmm… I don't seem to remember that one." Her lips started to twitch in one direction while an eyebrow lifted as her eyes looked up. "Nope, can't remember." Her hands slapped against her knees as she stood up. Her face lit up as an idea came across her mind. "But if they did do something similar, they should probably make a movie. Oh! Maybe they're doing some kind of hidden series that's like a tv show!" _Yes, that must be what they're doing. No wonder I didn't realize it earlier! _

     "You know Sana," Rei started, "there's been a couple of job offers for you lately. Are you interested in any of them?" He didn't notice the somewhat smug look Naozumi made as he said the word 'couple.' He couldn't help but think to himself that he was still more popular than the famous Sana Kurata.

     "What are they?"

Rei took a small moment to recount all the other offers before coming out with the main one. "You've been given many opportunities to do several commercial ads and the producers are wondering if you would like to start the newest season of Child's Toy soon. But what I am most concerned about is that you have been chosen for a movie." His eyes were happily lit behind the lens of the sunglasses as he smiled in excitement, like a kid waiting to see if his parents liked their Christmas presents. 

     "A movie huh?" She took a pen out of nowhere and started to twirl it using her thumb and forefingers. "I don't think so Rei. There's a lot I want to do this year. There's clubs and everything! Fuka and I plan on doing so much. Did I tell you that we have a lot of the same classes this year? It's going to be so much fun!" 

     "Whaaat?!" Both Rei and Naozumi freaked out for her at the same time. "But why not?" Rei asked. "It's such a great offer and I've heard that the director's really hot right now." If she didn't take the movie, his career as a manager would be just as good as over.

     "Sorry Rei." She walked over to her dressing room to grab the coat that was sitting on the chair_. _As Sana did so, the image of Rei was seen plastered chest-facing against the wall. __

Naozumi watched as Rei pleaded with Sana to take the movie for a small while before stepping in. "Sana," he called to her. When he saw her look at him he breathed out a small sigh and tried to help Rei out. "Remember the first movie we were in together? The Mansion of Water?" Seeing her nod, he was glad she remembered that. "Didn't you think that was fun?" 

     "Yeah! It was lots of fun! Mr. Ono was really cool during the whole thing. The whole cast was. Why? Didn't you think so?" she asked him innocently. She knocked him on the side of his head with her hand as she laughed. "Of course you did! I made sure of that." She put her hand behind her head as Naozumi struggled to get back up.

     "Um, yeah, lots of fun," Naozumi barely answered as he rubbed his head. "But to get to the point," His expression turned serious as his eyes gave off the certain gleam of a hunter determined to get his prey. "Before you took it, you told us the exact same reason you're giving Rei right now. You had fun in that movie and you were happy you played in it. You should give this movie some good consideration too."

_Yeah! You tell her Naozumi! _Rei cheered Naozumi on as he spoke, giving a hopeful inward smile as he watched Sana think about it more. If she took it, she would get a lot more offers and be ahead of Naozumi. _Hehe, she'll intimidate him and be ahead of the game again. _Realizing that it was quiet he stepped back into the conversation.

     "Director Kaiyuki will be filming it. He wasn't clear about the role you were to be given." He struggled with his mind while he tried to remember all the things he had told him. "Actually, I don't think he gave that much of a clear explanation about the background of the movie either. Though what I _do _know is that another actor from a different part of Japan will be playing in it as well." _Wait, what was his name? Oh that's right… _"Akito Hayama." __

~*~*~*~*~*~

Everything at school went on as usual; classes, lunch, break, more classes. Since nothing new happened, one would consider this repetition as a boring routine. But because Sana had usually been so busy, the actress took school as a fun thing and found it to be always exciting. Time went by pretty quickly for her and she would tell herself there was barely enough time for her to learn everything. There were so many subjects! 

It was such a nice day when the girls stepped out for their lunch break. The brunette let her arms appear to glide with the wind by raising them at her sides. She noted the warmth radiating from the sunlight as she then pulled her friends over to a nearby picnic table. _It was raining just a couple weeks ago, but I just knew it would be sunny again! _She looked as though she was bouncing in her seat as she started taking her lunch out. It was nothing much, just a bunch of sushi, couple of riceballs, and those pink squid-like things here and there. "Here! Take some!" she offered to her friends.

     "So Sana, heard anything work?" Aya asked her. "We noticed that you haven't missed any school at all. Taking a vacation huh?" 

     "Nope." Sana shook her head as she popped a piece of sushi in her mouth. "I turned all my offers down." 

Her friends wasted no time in spitting out their food. How ladylike. "You whaaat?" 

Sana blinked a couple times, wondering what was so wrong about turning down offers. _Wow, they sound exactly like Rei. _"School important. You know that." She kept a confused expression as her friends continued looking at her shocked.

     "But Sana," said Mami, trying to get her friend to realize what she was doing. "Work is important too. Are you sure you want to do that?" 

     "Yeah, that has got to be tough with you being such a great actress and all."

     "You gotta think things through first." Fuka stood up and put one foot on the bench. She placed a hand on her hip, the other hand using a finger to point under her chin. "What exactly _did _you turn down Sana?" 

All the girls took a long look at her while they waited for an answer. Sana appeared to be in a seemingly endless thinking mode. _What _did_ I turn down? Hmm… this is such a hard question! _"Let's see now…" She used her fingers to count off each offer. "Most of them were ads, but my manager really wanted me to take up this movie." 

     "A movie?" all the girls asked, edging closer to Sana.

     "Uh huh." She nodded her head at them, smiling now. "I'm not sure what part I was asked for, but Naozumi told me it would probably be really good, like the ghost I played in The Mansion of Water." 

     "You starred with Naozumi in that one right?" Fuka asked her, a question trying to pop out of her mouth. At Sana's nod, she couldn't help but let it do so. "Are you being the main lead in this one? Or is there someone else?" 

The other girls immediately started throwing in 'yeah's, 'is there's and 'who's at her while Sana waved her hands in front of her. "Probably no one that big. I don't think I ever heard of him before. My manager said his name was… was…" _Was what? I know Rei told me but I don't remember. It was something like Akudu? Akudo? Oh that's it! _"Akudo Hayaka." 

     "Akudo Hayaka?" Their voices exclaimed in bewilderment. From the looks on their faces, none of them looked as though they heard of him before. "Are you sure that's his name? Doesn't seem all that familiar to me," Aya laughed out.    

     "Wait! I got it!" All eyes turned to the darker haired girl with the accent. Fuka put a stern look on her face as she stared directly into the eyes of Sana. "You don't mean Akito Hayama do you?" 

     "Yeah! That sounds right!" the other girls shouted out in excitement. 

Sana took a moment before she put her a hand behind her head, her elbow sticking out to the side. "Ehehe. Yeah, I think that's it." 

     "Sana! I showed you a picture of him just around the beginning of school. Weren't you paying attention?" 

She gave a light shrug with a bit of an apologetic smile tugging her lips upward. "No?" 

Fuka and the others sighed as Sana started going on a ballistic apology rant, kneeling on top of the bench. Getting enough of her overdoing apology Fuka sat down, her back against the table, and let out another deep sigh. "Sana, it's okay. No biggy, really." She then turned around to face her and said, "Knowing movies you're probably going to be away for a long time again, but I think you should still take it." She gave her a supportive smile and said, "It'll be fun."

Sana blinked, not knowing what to say. If she did take it she would be away from school. She was just starting to be a regular teenager, without the problems of being an actress at the same time. _Then again, _she thought, _Naozumi did give me a lot of good reasons to take it. If both he and my friends say I should take it then maybe I should. I bet it will be fun. _After several more moments of contemplation she nodded and said, "Okay." She put on her determination smile. "I'll do it."

~*~*~*~*~*~

     "You'll do it?" Rei exclaimed in surprise. After all those offers she turned down it was amazing she still had the ability to agree to one. At her 'uh huh' he shot a balled fist in mid-air and said, "This is great! I'll contact Mr. Kaiyuki right away." As he bolted away to the telephone he shouted back to her, "You won't regret this Sana. You're going to love it. I promise you that."

Sana smiled as her manager ran off to make the phone call he had wanted to for probably the past few weeks. She leaned her head down into one of the pillows on the couch as she looked up in the ceiling, both hands tucked neatly under her head. _I wonder if I made the right choice._ She could hear Rei talking next door to her, excitement definite in his voice.

     "Sana!" Rei shouted over to her as he came back in. He had a content smile as he told her that the director was happy about having Sana in the cast. Right then, Sana knew that if she was able to make at least two people happy with her decision then she made the right one after all. 

     "There is going to be a meeting about three days from now where you will get to see all the others involved in the movie. It'll be a great chance to introduce you to the director. From the way he sounds on the phone, he seems to be a really nice guy." 

She jumped off the couch and gave him one of her biggest smiles, excitement being the first step in preparation for a movie. "I can't wait!" 

***

Author's Note: Yay! Sana is going to do the movie. The next chapter is going to be when she meets the cast. Excited? Should be! Because I'm going to make sure I'll update quicker for the next chapters than I did for this one. But beware; I might leave you with an evil cliffhanger. So stay tuned for the next chapter in When Acting Becomes Reality: Meeting the Cast. 

~San  

     __


	3. Meeting the Cast

**When Acting Becomes Reality**

By Empyreal Melody

Author's Note: Hi all! Those just tuning in, welcome! I said I would update sooner than last time, so here it is! The next chapter! Sana finally meets Akito! Weee! Well, actually, not really. It's more like he's introduced. But she sees him! ^^; Oh! And here's something for ya!

Reviewer Shout-outs: Hold up! I'd like to give a couple shout outs before I go on! 

E2K- My first reviewer! Thanks for reviewing the first **and** second chapter. Glad to know that people are coming back for more. You ROCK my world!!! 

Rose- Thanks girl! If it weren't for your reminders to update during every single month I probably wouldn't have even made the second chapter. No wonder Shigure and Sana's mom have those editors chasing after them. Lol.     

HYPERdingdong39- When you said you were adding me to your author alert list, I had no idea what that was except for the words: which means you better update soon. Well guess what? Whenever I thought of my fic, I thought of those words. So thanks for putting that in your review. It kept my motivation goin! 

Lizzy Black- Thanks for the very helpful comment about not rushing it too much. I can't guarantee you that I won't, but I'm sure as heck trying! 

***

Chapter 3: Meeting the Cast

The days passed by quickly as Sana came to realize that is was already three days later. It was the day she had been waiting for. She was ecstatic as she moved around in her seat, wanting to get out of the car so she could see the cast. She couldn't help but perk up as she saw the building.

     "It looks like this is the place Sana." Rei got out of the car to open the door for the teen actress. The moment he did so, the brunette stepped out to a couple feet's distance away from the car. She placed a hand above her eyes to block out the sun as she stared upward at the building. 

     "Sugoi! Is this the place where we are going to start filming?" 

Rei shrugged as he placed a hand on her back, motioning her to start going inside. "I don't think so. Mr. Kaiyuki's passion for filming deals with a lot of action. So knowing that, we might be flying somewhere on location." He held the door open for her as they both stepped into an elevator. 

When the elevator opened again, right away Sana noted the familiar actress who stood talking with a couple of other people, one other man in particular. _Hm, must be the director. Looks friendly enough. _She didn't say anything to her, but walked right up to them instead. 

On her approach, the taller and older actress spotted her. "Sana!" She smiled as she excused herself from those in her group to meet up with her. "I didn't know you were in this film. How are you doing?" 

     "Oh I'm doing great!" Sana answered. "I didn't know you were in this film either. Actually, I didn't even know if I was going to be in it myself." 

Asako gave a light laugh as she stooped down to match Sana's height level. "Is Rei here?" she whispered, not wanting to attract any attention about Sana's manager.  

     "Uh huh. Right over there." She used her thumb to point at the tall man with the sunglasses behind her. 

The older woman blinked a couple times. "Still wearing those silly sunglasses I see." The two of them hadn't seen each other in quite awhile, about a year actually. It was hard for both Rei and Asako to not be able to go out even for a day, but they were able to keep contact by phone every now and then. 

     "Pst, Asako." Asako shook her head to break out of her space trip to look at the younger actress. "You should go talk to him. We're both early so you have time for a little chat." 

Asako smiled at her and said, "I guess you're right. I think I will do that. See that man over there?" She pointed to the tall man with short black hair, wearing a black suit without a tie. "That's the director. You should go talk to him. We'll talk more later," she promised, heading over to Rei straight afterwards.

As Asako walked off, Sana stood by herself for just a short moment to look at the people around her. She saw various actors and actresses that seemed familiar, but couldn't exactly place who they really were. She shrugged it off as she had another smile on her face, and went to talk to her new director. _Guess I was right when I thought it was him. _

     "Hello Mr. Kaiyuki." Sana shortly bowed in respect as she greeted him, as was the custom. "It's a pleasure to be in your movie. Nice to meet you." She wanted to give him a good impression of her on their first introduction. Then again, this was the way she greeted almost every director and actor she met. 

     "Sana. It is a pleasure to have you with us," he said, giving her a friendly smile back. It was nice to see that he was capable of smiling. When she was filming with Director Ono, she barely saw him smile at all. It was a nice change. "Allow me to introduce you to these fellow stars." He motioned her to see the others with him. 

One was a girl, probably not much older than Sana. She had bright red cheeks and dark brown hair resting against her shoulders.

     "This is Hokuto Misami. She will be playing in quite a number of scenes with you." 

She watched as the girl put out a hand to shake with Sana's. "I was waiting for you to come. I'm such a big fan of yours. I hope we'll become good friends by the time this movie finishes." Sana nodded and agreed with the idea. Making friends was one her priorities. 

The other one was a boy. He was about the same age as she was, but he was a lot taller than her. He had light brown hair and golden brown eyes, his hands fitted in both side pockets of his pants. Unlike Hokuto and Mr. Kaiyuki, she was not greeted with the most friendly expression in the world. He looked a bit bored, not paying attention to Sana at all.

     "And this young man is Akito Hayama, my star actor," Mr. Kaiyuki beamed. "It was because of him in my first movie that I became the director I am right now. I chose him to be in this one to give me more of that luck." He chuckled at his little statement. 

Sana giggled a little bit at that as well. "It's nice to meet you Hayama." When she didn't receive an answer she told herself that he probably just didn't hear her. "Um, I'm Sana. It's nice to meet you." Even still he didn't respond. "Hello?" She waved a hand in front of his face, but the guy didn't turn or even blink. Using that short temper of hers, she did what she normally would have done in any situation like this. "Hey, are you even there? Answer me!" She pulled out her toy hammer from nowhere and attempted to bash it on his head.   

It was supposed to be one of those comedic moments when the hammer would hit a person and a band-aid would magically appear later on. But before it reached the top, a hand grasped onto the handle and blocked its route. The boy shot a slow sideways glance at her. He didn't say anything, just looked with a daunting pair of eyes. "Hmph." He pulled his hand back and walked away. 

     "What's wrong with him!" a freaked out Sana exclaimed to no one in particular. 

     "That's exactly what I thought when I tried saying hello to him," Hokuto said. "I introduced myself and he just looked the other way. Not even a 'hello' or anything."

     "I guess that's just the way he is." Mr. Kaiyuki didn't understand why Akito never said anything that much. "He may not have the best outward personality, but when I saw him perform he was a completely different person. Give him a script and he'll do it, but don't expect him to say anything more than a 'hmph' in a conversation." Why the director picked a guy with a sore attitude was beyond reasoning, but somehow Akito was chosen anyway.

     "See that kid over there?" Sana glanced in his direction to see another teenager talking with Akito. He was a lot shorter than him. His hair was chestnut brown and his eyes were covered with a pair of glasses. He smiled as he spoke, but Akito didn't. "His name is Tsuyoshi Sasaki, a friend of Akito. He came with him during the interview. Since he doesn't talk much, I guess Tsuyoshi is there as some kind of spokesperson."  

     "Oh." Sana was a bit upset to find out that the guy her friends obsessed over lacked a lot of communication skills. _You'd think he grew up in a school for those that only spoke sign language. _

     "Well, the meeting is about to start soon so you will be re-introduced to each other. You'll get the chance to meet all the other actors and our co-director as well. It'll be in that room just over there. Don't be late." As he walked off Sana couldn't help but still think about Akito. _Those eyes, they're so serious. I wonder if he ever smiles at all. _

"Come on Sana. If I didn't know you any better, I would take it that you want to be late on our first meeting." Hokuto joked. 

Sana laughed as they both walked to the next door. "Late? Never!" As she spoke she glanced back to where Akito and Tsuyoshi were, startling herself as she noticed Akito staring right back at her. She quickly jerked her eyes attention back to Hokuto, who didn't seem to notice that she glanced away at all. _This is going to be a long meeting.  _

~*~*~*~*~*~

     "I will announce your roles as we go along. " 

As the meeting began, Sana could tell that this movie was going to be great. Kaiyuki was tremendously active when it came to picking out roles. He matched people's personalities to the characters that best portrayed them. It was amazing how he was able to find a different range of people to get the movie he wanted. 

     "Hokuto will be playing as Mai, Sana's best friend. She is a bit of a serious girl, but she always speaks her mind, especially when it comes to accusations." Hearing her role, Hokuto smiled with glee, knowing that she had the chance to act with her number one favorite actress. It was strange though. Whether it was just her imagination or not, Sana thought that she resembled a lot like someone she knew. _Must be my mind playing tricks on me. _

     "Arina will be playing as the mother. She lets Sana go about and do what she pleases. Of course she's still caring, just not as strict as the usual mother would be. The mother is very trusting of her daughter." 

Sana blinked, unsure of what she just heard. So Hokuto will be playing as her best friend and this Arina woman will be playing as her mother. Why in all the history of Child's Toy did that sound so familiar to her?

     "This is Yuki, a beginner actor as some of you may have noticed, but I would say that he is as talented as both Sana and Akito. In fact, the two of them are his role models." He glanced a short smile to both of them, showing just how proud he was of his decision. He was giving the boy an opportunity to meet his favorite celebrities, and on screen too! "So given that information, he will be playing as Akito's greatest enemy, a rival you may say."

_A rival huh? _In complete honesty, he didn't look much like a rival. He was more of the pretty boy type. Not that any girl would mind of course… but he didn't seem to have that enemy stance in him. He had black hair, combed neatly on both sides of his head. He looked kind of nervous though, his blue eyes looking down at the table as more information about his role was being announced. 

     "Now I know that I should have introduced them in the beginning, but I decided to save our main characters for last. Sana." His voice held firm as he said her name, staring directly into her brown eyes. She could tell that he had something big in store for her. 

     "You will be playing as Kari,a runaway; not to escape the harsh realities of life as so many have done before, but as one in search of her father. You have been kept hidden from this part of your past, and after some years time, you decide that you want to find out who he really is. On your 'quest,' you meet up with Ryu. Now Akito," He turned to face him as he went to explain his role.

     "this is where you come in. Your role is to be the leader of the worst hit man gang that has ever walked the earth. You've done some major killings, including the assassination of Japan's prime minister. Every person in your gang is loyal to you, meaning that they are willing to do whatever you command them. You start off as a bad guy in this movie, but you will see some changes along the way. Everything is highly depended on your performance." The last statement was directed toward everyone in the cast.

If Akito was going to be playing as the leader of a hit man gang, then it was obviously going to end up being a violent movie. She couldn't help but think that violence was never something good, even if it was just pretend. Though something lit up in her system, like the sudden flicker of a light bulb. _This movie is going to be good. Real good. _As the director continued to speak she was deep in thought about her role. _I'm a runaway looking for my father. And I end up meeting this hit man… Ryu. Okay, but… _She lifted her head up to take a short glance at Akito, who was sitting not too far away from her. 

He was so serious. He just sat there with his arms folded across his chest, and looked down at the table. He didn't even seem to be able to move. His face expressed a mask of indifference, completely void of any emotion. He did not look as though he was paying any attention to the director, and neither did he notice the girl carefully observing him. He certainly showed off the total bad boy charisma, whether on screen or not.  

Sana had never known anyone in her entire life that looked like that. It was so depressing. That look would make any person feel like jumping off a building. She sighed in her seat, slumping down and letting her fingers playfully hit the table. 

     "So is everyone clear of their roles for now?" Kaiyuki looked about the large table to spot faces that showed signs of confusion. Not seeing any, he dismissed them. "You'll be handed the scripts on your way out. Scan them for now, but as soon as we hit next week I expect you to start learning them. Is everyone clear?" With words and nodding of acknowledgement, they were free to leave. 

     "What do you think Sana? Glad you took the role?"

She turned her head around to give Rei a quick nod. "Uh huh. I'm pretty sure this is going to be fun. Hokuto seems really nice. I think I'll make a lot of friends in this film!" As she was just getting out of her seat, she was stopped by a new voice. 

     "Hi Sana." 

She took one a look at the person and recognized him immediately. He was that friend! _Akito's friend, _she meant. "Oh! Hello!" She gave him one of her cute smiles. "You're… Tsuyoshi right?" 

The boy turned red as soon as he heard her respond to him. She knew his name! Oh what a wonderful day! Sana was his biggest and most favorite actress of all time, and he was actually standing right in front of her! And talking to her too! He adjusted his glasses, thinking that the unknown heat was making them foggy. "Yeah, that- that's right," he stuttered, quite unable to contain his excitement. 

     "Pleased to meet you!" She held out her hand, not noticing the sudden shaking that had started to move the boy's body. When he took her hand she shook it, acting as normal as could be. But boy was this guy nervous. He could barely let go! Sana blinked. "Ano…" 

     "Oi." 

Sana blinked once more to notice the 'bad boy on the block.' She stared as Akito stood there, both hands in his pockets. He actually said something other than 'hmph!' 

     "Akito," she said, her voice on the brim of a whisper. He didn't bother to even look at her. It seemed as though he was looking straight through them, like they were some kind of ghosts. _More like he _is_ one. Where's he looking at?_ Sana thought to herself, an eerie silence felt even in the crowded room. 

     "Tsuyoshi. Ikuyo." His monotone voice was still in tact as he tilted his head in the direction of the door. Like a dog obeying its master, Tsuyoshi nodded his head before letting go of Sana's hand. _Talk about a long handshake. _

     "Bye Sana. It was nice meeting you." Tsuyoshi waved as he made a turn. Akito, on the other hand, didn't do anything except give her another one of those side-glances. He was looking directly at her this time, no doubt about it. She felt a shiver go up her spine, making her quiver. _What is with those eyes?_ They had the uncanny ability to creep up and pierce through skin. She didn't know what to do or what to say to him. That position was held long enough until they heard the clearing of someone's throat. 

     "Sorry to interrupt you, but we really must be leaving now," Rei spoke, being Sana's savior for the day. But when Akito's eyes shifted over to him, his body jumped. 

     "You're that sunglasses guy aren't you?" From the way he asked, it sounded more like a statement than a question. "Sana's manager." 

Sometimes, things were better left unsaid. In this case, it was better to listen to Akito say nothing that anything at all. Sana could sense the discomfort in Rei, the intense stare of this new actor rubbing onto everyone around him. Even Tsuyoshi seemed to be in a state of uncertainty. _At least he knows my name, _she thought with a hint of bitterness. 

     "It's nice to meet you." Praise Sana for her courage to speak to him. After all, she was the one who tried to hit him with a toy mallet. "You didn't answer me when I said that earlier. I thought that you just didn't hear me." Saying that was probably a mistake, but she would not have stopped the words from coming out of her mouth even if she could. 

As cheerful as she usual was, this time she looked serious, defiant. She wanted to be friends with him, just as she wanted to be friends with everyone. So what if it seemed as though he was a bit psycho? He's still human and every human is unique. 

Sadly enough, Akito failed to come up with the same goal.

     "I don't need to answer to you." He walked away from her, Tsuyoshi's clue to follow along. 

Sana felt an upcoming rise of anger as he did so, not wanting to be spoken to that way. Loudly she shouted after him, "I'm pleased to know that you're willing to open up!" He did not look back at her. 

     "Argh." She held both hands tightly at each side. "The nerve of that guy!" How could anyone expect her to work with him if he would barely talk to her? Well yeah he did talk, but nicely? No… 

     "I swear, first thing I'm going to do when I see him again is sic my mallet on him," she muttered. 

Rei chuckled behind her, being able to hear her comment. 

     "That guy is trouble. I'd advise you to stay away from him, but I don't think that would be any possible way to go about it as long as he's your co-star."  

Sana grumbled, taking a script as she left. _That Akito had better watch out because he is going to get hit by something unexpected when he least expects it. _

***

Author's Notes: Well well well, looks like _someone _is gonna get a beating reeeeal soon. I'd take sides with either one of them except for the fact that I'm the one that put them in this situation in the first place. –laughs- Thanks for sticking with my story and the wonderful reviews people. I promise I'll try my best not to let you down! R/R! 


	4. Don't Get Involved

When Acting Becomes Reality 

By Empyreal Melody

Chapter 4: Don't Get Involved

It seems that word spread throughout the entire school that Sana had met the famous Akito Hayama; and Sana was confused more than ever. It was absolutely crazy! By the end of the day, all of the girls crowded around Sana's desk, repeating the same things over and over again: "Oh my god! You really met Akito Hayama?" "Does he look as hot in real life as he does on TV?" "Did you get an autograph?" "Did you drool?" "When are you going to meet him again?"

She shook her head. "No, I didn't get an autograph. Actually, I don't think I want anything that has to do with him. He doesn't seem all that great anyway."

All the girls gasped in surprise, unable to believe Sana would say such a thing. "But, Sana," one of the girls stammered, "you don't really mean that do you?"

She told them all what happened, how he didn't say hi, didn't smile, and didn't even introduce himself. "He was downright rude! I don't get what you guys see in him," she breathed.

The other girls stayed quiet for a while, pondering whether Sana was telling the truth or not; but knowing Sana, it didn't seem worth arguing about. She was surrounded by celebrities everyday, so it wasn't a surprise for her not to be interested in any of them.

"I always thought Akito was cool," said a girl. "Are you sure you aren't just over exaggerating?"

"Mami, I know I'm not exaggerating. It's the full truth that he was rude. There's no other word to use."

The girls sighed with disappointment and eventually left, leaving just Sana, Aya, and Fuka. _Everyone expects celebrities to be great at everything and that they're always cool. Well that's not true! _Her eyes narrowed down as the image of Akito Hayama kept on popping up in her head. All of a sudden she stood up and started whining. "Waah! Leave me alone Hayama!"

"Gee Sana… it doesn't sound as though things went that well. Are you still doing the movie?" Fuka asked.

She sighed, placing her hand over her forehead. "He makes me not want to do it anymore, but I think I'm still gonna do it."

She put a finger out as though she were going to give a lecture. "Just because he was acting like a jerk doesn't mean I'm going to give it up. Besides," she now had a hand on her hip and a hand out as though she were giving a lecture explanation, "that was just the first day. There were a lot of nice people there! And Asako's in it too!"

Fuka smiled. "I'm happy for you. Get me an autograph will ya?"

Sana's eyes dulled as they narrowed down. "Of who? Hayama?" That guy was like a wolf! A lone wolf that would just bite anyone's head off the moment he had the chance.

Fuka's smile faltered as she waved her hands in front of her as if she were invisibly pushing Sana away from her. "No, no! I didn't mean him! I meant Asako." She calmed down as Sana let out a sigh of relief. She didn't understand this whole Hayama problem that was going on, but decided that some things should just be left alone.

Sana, after a moment of silence, had an idea. "You know what? Let's go shopping!"

"What? On a Monday? People have homework to do-"

"Actually, I think that's a great idea. It'd help get our mind out of… all… this…," Aya, who was quiet the entire time, interrupted. "Besides, not many people go to the mall on Mondays. So we'll probably get it all to ourselves."

Fuka then sighed in agreement. "All right, but if you aren't able to finish your homework don't ask me for any help-"

"Okay then!" Sana exclaimed. "To the mall it is!"

- - - - - - -

"Aww! That's so cute!" Sana pointed to the small stuffed animal that sat in front the store window. "You know, I think Maro would like it. It's a squirrel, and he could use some company." And with that, the beginning of their shopping spree started. They all laughed as they wondered how it came to be that a squirrel was living in Mariko's hair, not knowing that it was Sana's idea in the first place. "I always ask my mom why there's a squirrel in her hair and she just sighs and walks away."

While exiting, they saw a small boy trying to drag his dad over to a Discovery Channel store.

"Wow! Look Daddy! Look! Is this place new?"

Curious as to what was in it; they decided to check it out. Walking in, they noticed that it had many neat things. There were sparkling yo-yos, light-up pens, glow in the dark stars, and a couple animal videos.

"Hey check it out. They have that squishy stuff!" Fuka laughed.

"Ooh! I love those!" Sana responded.

"And look at that stuffed dolphin! I always wanted one of those!" Aya said.

"Daddy, I want that dinosaur."

Sana turned her head and saw the same little boy from earlier pick up a dinosaur. With a fatherly smile, his dad went to the register to buy it for him. When he got it back, the kid hugged the bag tight and smiled up at his him. "Thanks Daddy!" he said as they left the store, his father's hand on his back leading him out.

She smiled for them both, noting how cute it was._ It's too bad I don't remember anything like that with my dad._ She didn't notice how spaced out she was until Fuka interrupted her reverie.

"Yo! Earth to Sana!" Fuka waved her hand in front of her face before snapping her fingers.

"What? Oh! Hey guys. Sorry, I must've spaced out there," she said, putting her hand behind her head.

Aya laughed. "Well I don't think there's much point in just standing here when we can go buy more things. We just got here half an hour ago."

"Aya's right. I didn't agree to come here for nothing. It's time to stop playing around and get some serious shopping!"

Sana walked away from the store with her friends, glancing back one more time at the other dinosaur that now stood by itself.

- - - - - - -

After getting their fill of a whole new wardrobe, the girls carried all their bags over to food court.

Sana felt her stomach growl with a loudness that matched the end of the world. "Wow! I'm starving! I feel like I can eat a cow!"

"That's what beef is for," Fuka joked.

"I'm serious! Look at all what we've bought." She genuflected toward the 15 gigantic bags that surrounded them. "People can't go home from shopping without eating. It's just not normal."

"Sana," Aya said, "you're not normal."

"Hey!" she defended as the other two laughed at her.

While this was going on, Sana spotted a short person with medium brown hair and glasses walk by. Moving her head a bit forward to fully recognize who it was she jumped out of her seat and shouted across the mall.

"Hey you! Stop!"

Luckily, there weren't that many people shopping that day so she easily attracted his attention.

Unsure whether she was referring to him or not, the figure turned around anyway. He blinked a couple times, before realizing that it was Sana. He waved with a shy smile as she approached him. "Hi Sana. I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah, it was sort of one of those 'spur of the moment' kind of things. I'm here with a couple friends of mine. Do you want to sit with us?" she invited him.

They made their way over to the table where she introduced them. "This is Fuka and Aya. Guys, meet Tsuyoshi."

"It's nice to meet you," he said with a little bow.

They both smiled at him and made tiny waves.

"So Tsuyoshi, what are you doing here?" Sana asked. Then, looking around, she added, "Did you come here with anyone?"

He laughed to himself as he put a hand behind his head. "Akito said he needed to get some things and I volunteered to come with him."

The moment that named came out from his mouth Sana automatically froze with indicated resentment. "Oh, were you going to meet up with him or something?"

"Yeah. We were supposed to meet up at the fountain right here in the food court. I hope he gets here soon. I'm really getting hungry."

"Oh hey! We were getting hungry too. How about we all eat together?" Aya asked, unaware of the SOS signs Sana was waving from behind. When Fuka nudged her to look at Sana, she was confused as to what that meant. "Or… maybe not?"

"Actually I don't mind at all. The more the merrier!" Tsuyoshi said happily, completely oblivious to the manner Sana was pulling her hair.

"Um, well, okay then," Aya said hesitantly, giving the best smile she could manage as Sana then started shaking her head wildly at her.

_No! I don't want to see him! _She looked at Fuka, who was slowly shaking her head at her as if there was nothing she could do.

_Oh well, what's done is done_, she sighed, shoulders slightly slumped forward.The thought of seeing Akito again wasn't good, but she figured that if he was going to be her co-star that she might as well try to get along with him. Maybe this day was a sign for them to get to know each other better. _Even if he is a jerk._

So the group waited at the fountain with idle chatter, laughing and joking.

Sana was listening to one of Fuka's stories when she spotted Akito coming toward them. He was listening to his cd player with several bags in hand. Noticing his friend had company, he stopped walking. He locked eyes with Sana's, wary ones matched with void ones. Then he looked away, walking forward as though he didn't notice her at all.

"Hey Akito. Did you get everything you needed? I ran into a couple friends on the way over," Tsuyoshi said when he realized he was there.

They watched as Akito took an uninterested glance at the girls, not bothering to take the head phones off. With a 'hmph' he looked away, provoking a gasp from Aya and Fuka. _Now they see the Akito that I had deal with, _Sana thought, angry that Akito was not only rude to her but to her friends as well. Still, she attempted to be nice to him.

"Hi Akito." She paused to see if Akito would say anything at all, forcing herself to smile. "What a coincidence running into each other here, especially when we just met the other day." She gave up looking happy when she still received no answer and instead openly frowned. _I swear this is like a replay scene. _Not wanting to deal with him any longer she decided to ignore him. _If he wants to be rude to me, then I'll be rude to him. What goes around comes around Hayama._

"Well, now that Akito's here, why don't we all go get that food we've been waiting for!" Tsuyoshi said, breaking the ice.

"Yeah, it's about time!" Sana smiled as though nothing was wrong and the other three shrugged and followed suit.

- - - - - - -

They all watched Sana ravish her hamburger, fries, onion rings, buffalo wings, chips, salad, and ice cream with an unleashed appetite.

"Sana… how is it that you're able to eat that much?" Tsuyoshi asked, amazed at her fill.

"To tell you the truth," Fuka answered, "we don't even know that ourselves. She's just been that way for who knows how long."

"Oh, I see." Of course he didn't really, but would know a sane answer to that?

Sana gulped down her last bite. "Well, when people work a lot the chances are they're either tired or hungry. For me, I'm just always hungry." She popped a fry in her mouth. "This food is really good! You guys want some?" When they shook their heads she just shrugged. "Okay then. Just tell me if you change your mind."

"Sana." Aya had another light smile as she started laughing. "You're too much."

Akito sat in silence as he took a glance at Sana every now and then. _This is the famous Sana Kurata I'm supposed to work with? _The girl was strange, that's for sure, but it wasn't as though he had a choice in choosing another co-star. _This sucks. _

"So, Sana, Akito, how do you guys feel working together?" Tsuyoshi asked, snapping Akito out of his thoughts.

"Well we haven't started filming so I can't really say," she said, avoiding the real answer. _I hate it, _Sana thought. _But it's not like I'm really going to say that._

Aya and Fuka looked at each other, knowing the truth behind those words. Both of them glad that she didn't explode with the truth right in front of him, they sighed with relief.

Even though Akito wasn't looking directly at them, he saw the look the two of them had. _Hm, wonder what that could mean… _He looked at Sana who was just smiling, but it looked somewhat fake.

Tsuyoshi just nodded his head. "True."

"You know what? I think I'm getting thirsty. Do you guys want something to drink?" Sana asked, getting up from her seat. "I mean, the smoothie stand is just behind us so it's not like it's a long way to go," she laughed.

Three of them gave her an order. When Akito didn't say anything, she just pretended that his no- opinion didn't matter. "Okay, that's a coke, an ice tea, and a strawberry smoothie? Gotcha."

It didn't slip by them the way Sana didn't ask Akito if he wanted anything. As little as it was, it still stung. _I wouldn't want to be in his position. Hmph, Piggy Hayama. _

"Akito, you're really quiet. Don't you ever talk?" Fuka asked, not ashamed to ask any upfront question.

Akito glared at her but refused to say anything.

Fuka felt offended as she narrowed her eyes at him. She was about to say something else when Tsuyoshi spoke.

"Um, Akito just doesn't like to talk that much," Tsuyoshi said, his hand behind his head. "He's a lot nicer than he looks. Right Akito?" He wasn't really expecting an answer, but when Akito got up from his seat Tsuyoshi knew that it was time to leave.

"Uh, I think we better get going now. It was nice meeting you. Bye Sana, thanks for the drink. See you soon all right?" After giving a couple apologies he followed after Akito's leave.

The girls were quiet for awhile.

"Well," Aya started, "I have to say this went by pretty quickly."

"No kidding. I can understand why you hated him Sana. The guy was a total jerk," Fuka flipped. "Who does he think he is, glaring at me like that? It was just a simple question!"

"But Tsuyoshi seemed really nice. Do you think we'll be able to hang out like this again?"

Fuka gave her a look that went along the lines of 'don't tell me'. "Aya, you don't… like him do you?"

"What? Of course not."

"Sure Aya," she said, rolling her eyes. "I believe you."

"I don't! I just said he was nice. What's wrong with that?" By now her face was red as she held her hands up to her chest.

"You're face, that's what."

As Fuka joked around and Aya helplessly defended herself, Sana sat deeply in thought. She felt bad for somewhat ignoring him like she did, but she wasn't one to mess with. It was that whole Code of Hammurabi thing: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

_Akito, hopefully we'll learn how to get along. But until then,_ _I'm not going to stop being rude until you do. _She sighed._ Stubbornness wins._

- - - - - - -

"So, that was fun wasn't it?" Tsuyoshi asked Akito.

"What was?"

"You know, hanging out with Sana and her friends."

"Hm."

Tsuyoshi stopped walking. "Come on Akito! You haven't hung out in a group in a long time. Of course it was fun."

Akito stopped walking after he said that, his hands in pockets, head still facing forward. "If you call being openly ignored as fun, you've got the wrong idea."

Tsuyoshi regretted having spoken when he heard Akito's response. _Maybe I shouldn't have agreed to Aya's invitation, but it seemed like a good idea at the time._ When he looked up Akito had already walked on. He ran to catch up with him, jogging up at his side to keep up with his pace.

"Akito, sorry, but I'm sure Sana didn't mean anything by it."

"It's nothing." He spoke with the same monotone voice while his eyes flashed with the same creepiness equivalent to the evil of the devil.

"Maybe, it's because you weren't… open with her the first time you met."

Akito recalled the first time he spoke to her. _I don't need to answer to you. _Somewhere in him knew that those words probably did hurt her, but seriously, did he even care?

"I don't want to deal with her. Everything is strictly business, nothing more." He paused. "I don't care what she does as long as she leaves me alone."

Tsuyoshi was then left behind, watching as his friend walked away into the night.

* * *

A/N: I'd just like to make a quick note. Someone asked what year they were in. Even though I said they were in freshmen year, I would like to change that to their junior year in high school. It makes things easier for the story if they're older. So they're 16. I'm also currently working on the 5th chapter. I was going to wait until I was done with that before posting this one up, but you guys are awesome reviewers!

Much love to those who reviewed and haven't given up on this story. And special shout-outs to **Moonjava, and Tonim **for reviewing even after it's been a year since my last update. **Miki, **you especially. It seems as though you're reviewing everyday. -happy face- I'm really grateful! Luv you all!


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